[ LETTERS ]

Chinese tourists: clean up

It is past time the Chinese became concerned about the manners of their touring public. While at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last year, my wife and I were waiting in line for our flight when a group of Chinese tourists pushed their way to the front of the line.

They proceeded to eat their breakfast of hard-boiled eggs and dough sticks. They all deposited the eggshells on the floor along with the doughsticks’ wrappers.

A month later we were on a Ubus going to Taipei when a Chinese tourist evidently decided he did not need to use the rather small bus bathroom: He urinated in the aisle of the bus. When confronted by other passengers he proceeded to curse everyone within earshot and referred to Taiwanese as “servants to China.”

This all brings to mind the pre-Olympics guidance issued by the Chinese government: “Please do not spit, burp, pass gas or urinate in public places during the Olympics.”

Did it do much to deter such behavior? Obviously not. A recent sad case in point is the young man from Nanjing who defaced a 3,500-year-old temple in Luxor.

A bit of advice to Chinese tourists: Clean up your act or stay at home. We do not need your money that badly.

Tom Kuleck

Greater Taichung

No oxymoron in overlapping

I would like to take issue with Martin Phipps (Letters, May 31, page 8). Phipps was right in saying that “overlapping” and “exclusive” are opposite in meaning, so we cannot say “overlapping exclusive zones.”

Wikipedia rightly says that an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (370km) from a nation’s coast. Here “exclusive” means it belongs to someone and no one else. However, since many countries, especially island countries, are adjacent to one another, EEZs are bound to be overlapping, triggering disputes or even conflicts between or among these countries. If Phipps continues to read the Wikipedia page in question, he will see a list of such disputes. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Since Taiwan and the Philippines are less than 200 nautical miles apart, their EEZs are bound to overlap. Taiwanese fishermen have every right to fish in Taiwan’s EEZ, which overlaps with that of the Philippines. Taiwan has been generous enough to self-impose boundary lines to avoid conflicts with the Philippines. The Philippines should not take this as a signal that Taiwan’s EEZ stops at these lines.

I think it is easy to see that countries that have “overlapping exclusive zones” should negotiate agreements to clearly set their “exclusive” zone to avoid confrontations. It is clear that Taiwan and the Philippines need to negotiate as soon as possible.

I do not think Phipps understands the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea correctly. However, I do agree with him when he says, “I don’t approve of the way they [the Philippine Coast Guard] responded.”

Shane Lee

Greater Tainan

Web bans different to China

I want to take the opportunity to say how outraged I am by the recent spat of ridiculous articles that compare Taiwan’s proposed legislation to restrict access to Web sites that are maintained for the purpose of copyright infringement to China’s Great Firewall.

Three incendiary and asinine articles put forward the idea that Taiwan was or is attempting to become more like China by enacting Internet restrictions. That is complete nonsense. Why would these reporters compare Taiwan to China? That is simple stupidity and racism to boot.